Work as a Deck Hand or Engine Room Hand ...
As a pathway towards your skipper’s ticket
As a General Purpose Hand, you can gain practical experience on the deck or in the engine room of vessels up to 80m, which is a great stepping stone on the pathway to becoming a skipper.
Both as a deck hand and engine room hand, you’ll be directly supervised by the person in charge of the vessel or its engines, so you can learn and practice new hands-on skills.
With this qualification, you can undertake a wide range of maritime work at sea and around the waterfront in communications, seamanship, logistics, tourism and hospitality.
If you wish to work in New Zealand, you can easily transfer this Australian qualification to the Qualified Deck Crew certificate.
Although the qualifications are equivalent, the General Purpose Hand course is more time effective than the Qualified Deck Crew course, so it’s a great option if you’re looking to get started quickly.
Course Requirements
See why you should choose our General Purpose Hand Course. You can transfer your General Purpose Hand certificate to the Maritime NZ Qualified Deck Crew qualification. Here’s a detailed comparison of the courses…
| General Purpose Hand | Qualified Deck Crew | |
|---|---|---|
| Licenses | Work as a deck hand on vessels up to 80m operating within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ) And / or Work as an engine room hand on vessels up to 80m and with propulsion power of up to 3000 kilowatts operating within the EEZ | Work as a deck hand on non-passenger ships and passenger ships <24m in restricted and near coastal waters. You must have a passenger endorsement to work on ships carrying over 250 passengers. |
| Course Duration | 5 Days | 12 weeks full time |
| Sea time requirements | None | None, but you are expected to complete sea service as part of your training record book |
| Additional requirements | Be at least 16 years old on the certificate issue date Meet medical, eyesight and course requirements | Be at least 16 years old on the certificate issue date Meet medical, eyesight and course requirements Complete and pass the approved qualification for QDC Complete the QDC training record book Have the required ancillary certificates (first aid certificate and MRROC certificate) |
| Additional qualifications | Can be used as a pathway towards becoming a skipper | Check with the other maritime schools |
| Exam | No exam. Written and practical assessments as you go | MNZ oral examination |
| Cost | $2205 AUD including assessments and lodgement. | $782 +/- (current at time of writing) |
| Accepted qualification | Qualification valid in Australia and can be converted to be valid in NZ | Qualification valid in NZ |
| Note: This is an Australian course than can lead to an Australian Maritime Safety Authority qualification that may be recognised by Maritime NZ. This is not an NZQA approved course - if you do this course, you will enrol with a school approved by the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) |
PLEASE NOTE: Australian courses are offered by Australian Registered Training Organisations. We’re just helping spread the message, and happy to help answer questions